Help From the Past
by Moon Knight
Summary: When a wizard from the past kidnaps Bulma and kills some of the warriors, who will they turn to for help? Plz read and review! i need feedback!
1. Sorrow

Chapter One Sorrow  
  
Bulma stood quietly in front of the glass doors that led to her patio, tears dried to her face. She wrapped her arms tightly around her waist for reassurance to no avail. The smell of barbeque reached her nostrils and made her stomach lurch. She was supposed to be down there with her friends and family celebrating their reunion, but she didn't feel up to it. She opened the patio door slowly and stepped outside into the night air. Leaning on the balcony, Bulma sighed shakily. The sound of laughter made fresh tears reach Bulma's eyes, blurring the stars. The whoosh of the door opening caused Bulma to close her eyes and lower her head slowly. She had known that someone would eventually come to check on her but she wasn't prepared to face anyone just yet. "Hey, Bulma.." it was Gohan. As if her problems weren't bad enough with the day's previous events, but now she'd have to face her old friend, "Are you okay?" Bulma straightened up, wiped away her tears, and turned with a weak smile on her face, "Of course I am.." she was trying to sound convincing, not at all like the deeply depressed person she currently was, but she sounded terribly unconvincing, even to herself. Gohan nodded slowly and solemnly, "Your son tells me that Vegeta took off this morning." he paused studying the way Bulma's face contorted with the effort of not crying hysterically, "Is this true?" Bulma's mouth grew tight and her brow furrowed as she nodded. "Yes." she wept breaking into loud sobs of remorse and heartbreak. Gohan let out a long sigh as he allowed Bulma to cry in his shoulder. He walked her over to the lounge chairs and sat her down. He then tore off a piece of his shirt and handed it to her for a handkerchief, "Thanks." she sniffled. "No problem. I'm here for you, Bulma. If there's anything you want to tell me just say it. I can stay as long as you need me." Gohan said comfortingly, but they both knew that he felt awkward. "It's okay, Gohan, really." Bulma whispered shakily, "Besides if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk to you about it. no offense." "Well, how about me?" a voice asked quietly. They both looked up at a solemn faced Videl, heavy with child. She looked lovingly at her husband and sent him a reassuring glance. They had been married only a year before and Videl was in the most delicate stages of her pregnancy. Gohan had told her not to go to the barbeque, but Videl had refused. "Are you sure?" Gohan asked, silently praying that she would change her mind, although every cell in him knew that she would never do such a thing as back down. "Positive, as long as Bulma doesn't mind telling me." Videl said, once again her voice was as quiet as a whisper. Bulma was silent. Gohan sighed as he stood and flew off the balcony to join the others below with a simple nod to Videl. Bulma dropped her gaze to her feet to hide her tears. The love between them was apparent and it made Bulma's pain all the worse. "Okay, let's start at the beginning. And forgive me if I'm going to quickly for you. We can wait if you'd like.. Kami. I suck at this.." Videl blurted as she sat across from Bulma. Bulma didn't move nor did she make any sign to show that she had heard Videl, "Bulma.. I can see how this must be for you, but look on the bright side. you still have Trunks." Bulma looked into Videl's eyes, shook her head, and resumed looking at her feet, "It isn't only that Vegeta left Videl.. We had an argument this morning about him not being around enough and not helping with the chores. or that's how it started out anyway. Then he said something about my work and said that I was just a crackpot scientist.." she paused looking at the sky choosing her words carefully, but no matter how she looked at it the fact remained that it was her fault, "I said that he had no right to judge me. I told him that he was just a little kid that throws a temper tantrum every time someone proves to be stronger than him. and by the look on his face I knew that I had struck a nerve. but I didn't stop there. I said that he was unfit to be a father if he threw tantrums himself. I said that he had no sense of loyalty or dignity. I said that he was probably cheating on me, that that was where he was on the nights that he stayed out until 3 and 4 o'clock.." Bulma was sobbing uncontrollably by this point but she wasn't finished. She paused to sob into Gohan's soaking shirt, unable to carry on until Videl finally embraced Bulma and whispered reassuring words in her ear. Bulma slowly regained her composure, although now with the hiccups, and continued, "All he seemed to be able to ask was if that was what I really thought of him. I said yes and with that being the case." Bulma faltered. "It's okay. You've come this far.why not finish?" Videl encouraged. Bulma was looking deep into Videl's eyes looking for the strength to carry on. She found it in Videl's nod of encouragement, "I said that with that being the case he should l-leave.. I told him to get out. Out of my face, my house, my life and to never look back.." Bulma broke into another wave of tears, "How could I? It doesn't make any sense! How could I have said that to him?" she hiccupped a few times, "Oh, Videl. I love him so much, so very much.. I was angry, that was all. I didn't mean it but I hurt him and I knew it. I wanted to hurt him! I could feel the anger deep into my very soul! It was an icy hatred mixed with the fire of love! I was so confused! And now he's gone, gone forever, and it's all my fault!" "Bulma it's okay.." Videl sighed hugging her friend as tightly as she could with Gohan's child in her womb, "I know he'll be back. I just know it. But if I'm wrong then I want you to forget him. If he doesn't come back then he's a loser and an idiot!" "You don't understand! I already told you that it's more than that.!" "Well, what else is it?" Bulma froze. How could she tell her? She couldn't even believe it herself but it was true. She took in a slow, shaky breath and let it out just as slowly, "I'm pregnant." "That's gre-!" Videl stopped realizing Bulma's dilemma. She looked at her friend compassionately, "Oh, Bulma. does Vegeta know?" Bulma shook her head slowly, tears flowing freely from her eyes. Videl wrapped her arms tightly around Bulma allowing her to cry into her shoulder. By the time Bulma finished crying she had been out of tears for a long time. Instead she just sat there hiccupping into Videl's shoulder. Finally Gohan came up and said that they were being missed at the party. Videl said thank you and Gohan left. After a moment, Bulma and Videl went to the bathroom to clean up before going to join the others.  
  
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The next few days seemed to drag by for Bulma. She went to her office every day but found that she couldn't concentrate on the task at hand until she finally quit going. She trudged through the hallways like a ghost, silent but noticeable. She was simply a presence. The only time that she spoke was when answering questions. The Briefs family seemed to know better than to mention Vegeta. However, unknown to the others, Bulma could always sense Vegeta's presence. Although she knew he wasn't there she could still feel his emotions. At first she figured that maybe it was just how she thought he felt she began to believe that he was really feeling what she knew he was. She was feeling his heartbreak and sorrow. Slowly, however Vegeta's sorrow turned to anger and his heartbreak became blinded by ambition. Bulma knew that edge on his emotion as well as she knew her own emotions. He was training just as he did with every fight that they got into. Every other fight that the couple had ever endured had been dealt with in their own stubborn ways. Although they both refused to be the first to apologize, they both had to beat back their emotions with a stick. Vegeta's stick was his training and Bulma's was her work. Sadly, with her knowledge that she was at fault this time and with the fact that Vegeta could be miles away, Bulma just didn't have the heart to work anymore.  
  
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Later that night, Bulma had a terrible dream. A dark sky, starless, and hollow loomed threateningly over a strange three-headed, blue serpent. It was an eternal dragon, Bulma knew, but she had never seen a dragon quite like it. Two small trembling figures stood before the giant snake. They both raised their arms and Bulma could hear a soft chanting coming from the two men. The dragon's eyes began to glow a bright green and another figure began to appear between the dragon and the two men. This figure was tall, even while kneeling, and a terrible power radiated from him. He wore long, dark, shadowy robes and his skin had a sallow tint. As Bulma slept fitfully, she focused on his face. The man's eyes popped open to reveal the cold, fathomless slits. He stood slowly surveying the area in one simple sweep of his eyes. He then focused his cold gaze on the two men. One of them recoiled in fear, but the other bowed to the dark man. "My Lord, welcome back to the Realm of Life. I am Dorei, your humble servant." the bowing man said gracefully, "This is my accomplice, Madori "Ah, Dorei.. I remember you. Your family served me for generations. It is only right that it should be one of your family that brought me back." the dark man nodded. He looked at the quivering figure next to Dorei and added, "You also bring me another servant? Although I am grateful, I am in no need of two servants. Be gone!" Madori nodded and turned to leave, but a cruel smile touched the dark man's lips as he raised a hand. Madori's figure froze and spun on the spot. Terror and pain was etched the smaller man's face. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. Only Bulma could hear the scream as it pulsated through the darkest corners of her mind. Madori toppled onto the ground writhing in apparent agony until he finally stopped moving. His breathing slowed and his eyes became glossy with death.  
  
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Bulma awoke in a cold sweat with the sound of an evil laugh still fresh in her mind. She was panting heavily and she knew that something in the world wasn't right. That hadn't just been a nightmare. it had been a premonition. After her breathing slowed and the laughter began to fade, Bulma looked at the digital clock by the guest room bed. She had moved into the guest room a couple days after the barbeque, unable to sleep in her and Vegeta's large bed alone. The clock read 7:00am. Reluctantly Bulma climbed out of bed and got dressed in a tee shirt and jeans. She went downstairs and walked into the kitchen to the surprise of her family. She grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon and sat at the table next to a gawking Trunk. "Oh, hi Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed when she walked in from the back deck, "It's so good to see you around! I don't think I've seen you since Vegeta left!" Silence. Bulma was staring at her plate eating, focusing all her will on not crying. She focused on the dream instead. Maybe it had just been a nightmare. She tried to recall the man's face but all she could see was Vegeta. When Bulma looked up, her whole family was staring at her with worried looks on their faces. Bulma shrugged and attempted a smile, but all she could manage was a smirk, and a weak one at that. She went back to eating and the others followed suit. After a while Mrs. Briefs pulled a small envelope out of her pocket. "I almost forgot! Here Trunks, this was in the mail for you." "For me?" Trunks took the letter and opened it. He began to read and Bulma watched the large smile spread across his face, "It's from dad!" He read further as Bulma's heart sank. Vegeta must not plan on coming back if he sent a letter to Trunks instead of coming to visit, "He says hi to you and grandpa. and," he turns to Bulma and shakes his head slowly, "sorry mom." Bulma nods and shrugs once again. She holds out her hand but Trunks refuses to give the letter to her. So, while Trunks is getting dressed and ready to go to Goten's house, Bulma snatches the letter and envelope off of his dresser. Later in the safety and privacy of the guest room, Bulma unfolds Vegeta's letter. It reads:  
  
Trunks- Hey, son. I just wanted to check on how you Were doing. I'm sorry this isn't a very long letter but I'm not very good at this. Maybe your mother is right. maybe I am unfit for parenting.. I'm sorry that I can't come see you, but I'm not sure that your mother would have me back yet. How are you and your mother doing? I miss you both. but don't tell your mother okay? Say hi to your grandparents for me. And please watch over your mother. Dad  
  
Bulma read the letter over and over, memorizing every stroke of pen and curve of letter. She could feel Vegeta's emotions imprinted deep in the paper. Anger, remorse, sorrow, and love were imprinted on it as deeply as the ink. But not only love for Trunks. He still loved Bulma. A tear slid down her cheek and landed softly on the paper. After everything she had said to him, everything she had ever done to him, he still loved her and she had turned him away.. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to him without him hearing her apology. "Mom. It's time to go." "Coming." Bulma said towards the door. She wiped her eyes and shoved the letter in her pocket. Downstairs she and Trunks got into the airplane and left for Chichi's.  
  
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"So he still hasn't come home?" Chichi asked curiously. She sipped her coffee slowly watching Bulma carefully. Gohan and Videl had told her of Bulma's condition. She felt bad for her friend. Bulma shook her head as she watched the boys spar outside. She stirred her coffee casually and looked at Chichi. She shrugged, "I don't know what to do, Chichi. I'm completely lost without him. I can't work, I'm having trouble sleeping, and even eating seems to be a chore. I feel like an important half of me vanished in the night. Kami. I can't even sleep in our room anymore! I sleep in the guest room!" she shook her head slowly, "I haven't heard from him. He only sent a letter to Trunks today.. I want him to come home so badly and I know that Trunks does to, but he would never admit it. Another trait he got from his father sadly." Chichi simply nodded agreeing completely with Bulma. She remembered what it had been like for her when Goku died, but she also remembered that Bulma had taken it even worse when Vegeta had died the first time, "There must be a curse on the Saiyan's women. We become a part of them. But you and Vegeta seem to have a stronger bond than Goku and I. We rarely show any affection any more. I mean I know he fights for the boys, and me but I honestly think that the old flare is gone. I guess I deserve it though. I was always terrible to Goku, always ordering him around, intimidating him, and yelling.. Your relationship with Vegeta wasn't like that." Bulma fought from wincing. Chichi knew nothing about her relationship. But, unless Bulma was careful, that could happen to her and Vegeta.  
  
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Bulma awoke once again panting. She was in a cold sweat, but she knew that it wasn't a nightmare this time. She had felt Vegeta's emotions and they had frightened her. his own fear had fueled hers. Vegeta never feared anything, but now he was afraid. She closed her eyes. He was fighting, fighting for his life, for Trunks's life, for her life. Some new threat was on Earth and it had found Vegeta. She could feel his urgency to defeat this foe, but she could also feel his desperation. He was losing and fast. She climbed out of bed and scrambled to get some clothes on. Another wave of fear slammed through her like a bullet. It pierced her heart and this time she felt the hint of defiance. Without a doubt, Bulma knew that it was Vegeta. She dressed quicker. A sharp pain hit her in her stomach causing Bulma to double over in pain and wheeze. She coughed up blood and prayed that Vegeta wasn't feeling the same agony. He had to live. He had to! She regained her composure and walked to the door. As she opened it, another wave of pain hit her, only this time in her back. She stumbled forward into the hall holding back tears and fighting back her screams. Bulma walked quickly, but quietly, down the hall to the stairs. At the top of them she paused, rubbing her stomach in a gentle caress. If she fell down the stairs she could lose the baby.. She had to try. Something was wrong with Vegeta and she could only think of one person who could help her find him, Goku. Bulma stepped onto the first step and prayed to Kami that Vegeta didn't receive any hits for the next few minutes. She felt Vegeta's blinding rage taking her over. NO, she thought viciously at herself, Control it! You can't afford to lose your head right now! Just take a step, then another. She walked farther down the steps feeling Vegeta's desperation growing again. Suddenly a feeling like a bomb going off in against her body hit her. She lost her balance as she desperately grabbed for the railing. Bulma fell backwards down the stairs landing in an unconscious heap on the floor. 


	2. The Kidnap

Chapter Two The Kidnapping  
  
The first thing that Bulma heard was worried voices. She couldn't depict what they were saying or even who was saying them, all she was certain of was that they involved her. She cracked her eyes open but shut them against the bright light moaning softly in protest. Someone dimmed the lights enough to allow her to open them, but she didn't. She just sat there taking in deep breaths. Vegeta's scent filled her nostrils and her eyes shot open. Her son, Trunks, was leaning over her with a worried expression. She was lying in her own bed. She scanned it but Vegeta wasn't there. The bed was still fresh with his familiar scent. "G'mornin' Mom!" "Oh, Bulma, you gave us quite a scare!" her mother exclaimed. "We didn't think you'd pull through.. You've been asleep for quite some time you know.." "Why what day is it?" Bulma asked groggily. She sat up, or tried to but couldn't without Trunks's help. "It's Friday, dear." her mother replied slowly. She exchanged a glance with Trunks. "Friday! I've been asleep for a week! I have so much work to do!" "Bulma, it's the 26th. the 26th of November." "November! But, how?" Bulma shouted, "I've been asleep for over a month?" Her family nodded slowly. She stared in disbelief, unconsciously rubbing her stomach. She still hadn't told her parents about her pregnancy. She looked out the window, "Any sign of Vegeta?" once again her family shook their heads, "Fine.. Um, can you guys go.? I kinda want to be alone right now." Her father came in then. He came over to Bulma and gave her a hug mumbling a thank-you to Kami before her mother ushered him from the room. Bulma slumped back against the headboard of the bed. Outside the snow fell softly to the ground. She wanted to go out on her balcony and breathe the fresh air, but she knew it wasn't possible. Silence, she thought to herself. The silence wouldn't last long though. As she stared out the window, Goku appeared with a worried Videl and Piccolo. "Good, I was hoping you were awake." Goku panted. His expression was one that Bulma had seen many times while he battled. "What's wrong?" Bulma asked sitting erect in bed. Videl was afraid and she kept rubbing her stomach. And Piccolo had gone to the window, looking around suspiciously. "Someone's hunting the Z warriors. They've got Krillen, 18, and they almost got Gohan this morning." Goku said looking down the hallways. He came back in and helped Bulma out of bed, "They're systematically hunting down the Z warriors. Every time someone charges up to train or to fly, these people know about it. And we can't sense them, but from what I can gather, they aren't androids just different." "We didn't even hear them coming.." Videl whispered. She clutched her bag to her. "Come on, Bulma, we're going to get you, Vegeta, and Trunks out of here." Goku said grabbing a suitcase from the closet. "No." Bulma said sternly. Everyone turned abruptly to look at her, "I'm not leaving without Vegeta. He isn't back yet and if he comes home. No." "Bulma, this is no time to be irrational! Vegeta would want you to be as far from danger as possible and you know it just as well as I do!" Goku shouted. He crossed the room and held her by both shoulders so that she looked at him in the eyes, "You don't know what these men can do. They don't care who they harm, they just destroy whatever and whomever gets in their way." "I can't.... Take Trunks if you must. He's the one in danger. I can't charge up or anything, so they probably won't even come here, but I can't leave without Vegeta." "Do you know where he is?" Bulma shook her head, her gaze drifting to the ceiling as a tear slid down her cheek. Kami, she wished she did.... "Then how can you be so sure that he is even still alive?" Piccolo asked abruptly. Bulma sent an angry glare in his direction. "Vegeta is fine!" "But, how do you know?" Videl asked timidly. Bulma could tell that the attack must have scared her a lot. "I can feel him. I can feel his emotions." "How? We can't sense him. How is it that you can?" Piccolo asked from the corner. "I don't know...." Bulma admitted slowly. After a moment's silence Goku finally said, "Fine, we'll leave you, but call me if you need anything, got it?" When Bulma nodded Goku added, "We'll take Trunks with us. This way you'll both be safe." "No, way!" Trunks blurted out from the door, "Dad wouldn't want me to leave mom alone! I'll stay and protect her." Goku stared at Trunks, then at Bulma and back again, "I shouldn't even have bothered. Your whole family is stubborn!" When they left Bulma reached out for Vegeta, but could no longer sense him. She knew deep in her heart that he was dead.  
  
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Bulma didn't sleep that night. She sat on the balcony outside her room with Trunks sound asleep in the chair next to her. She took a sip of water and stared at the stars. It was chilly enough out for her to see her breath on the air in front of her. She saw Trunks shiver next to her. Bulma sighed contently but sadly as she stood to retrieve a couple blankets from a closet in the house. She came back out with two blankets, a pillow, and some files from her office in her hand. When she stepped onto the balcony her breath caught. A highly built frame stood over her son with an energy ball in his hand. The figure bent closer to Trunks. She dropped her things and flung herself at the intruder remembering what Goku had said. The man stood up so quickly that Bulma was certain that she'd fall off. She began kicking and flailing at any body part she could manage to hit. The man panicked at first but finally he grew agitated and flew high into the air. Bulma struggled to hold on but he was going to fast. She felt herself grow light-headed before she began to drop through the air. Bulma felt weightless as she dropped through time and space. She knew that when she hit the ground, death would come swiftly and she welcomed it. Earlier that day she had even thought of joining Vegeta in the other world, but didn't because of Trunks. She had been falling a long time and knew the ground couldn't be far. Not long now, she thought smiling, suddenly taken over by a warm sense of security. Then something happened. One second Bulma is falling, no, plummeting to her death, the next she is in strong arms. Tears formed in her eyes. She beat at the chest of her rescuer. She looked into his face but couldn't make him out with tears blurring her vision. He took her back to the balcony where he set her down slowly, but yet gently. She turned to the man and stood there trembling with anger, "So it was you! You took Vegeta away from me! You're the one who took Krillen and 18! You're nothing but a cowardice murderer! So go on, get it over with! Kill me! End my miserable existence! Take away all the pain you've inflicted upon me or I will give it back three fold!"  
  
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Vegeta stood in shock. Bulma really thought him dead? That explained her look of joy as she fell, he supposed. But why would she think he was dead. He had come close and no doubt he had wished death upon himself.but how did she know? How could she know what he had been through over the last few weeks? Had it really only been a few weeks? To him it had been an eternity. an endless cycle of torture. What had she endured that could make the strong-willed woman he knew disappear so suddenly? And what did she think she could do to his ex-captors? He had hardly dented them let alone sent any pain back to them for his own suffering. She stood in front of him completely impassible. She had closed herself off from everything around her at some point after he had left on that fateful afternoon. The Bulma he had grown to love would never have done that without some major prompting. True, she could get annoying, with the way she always expressed her feelings, but that was half the fun in being her husband. He couldn't control her, but he could always reach her. Now, it seemed that she had a heart of stone that he would never break. "Bulma, look at me." she did but only with her chin raised high, "Wipe away your tears and look at me. It's me, Vegeta. I'm home." He let this sink into her head a moment. He could see her face contorting in the dim light. She was holding back the wave of treacherous tears that were attempting to spill from her bright blue eyes. "Liar." she hissed so vehemently that he almost took a step backwards. He had almost believed himself to be lying, "You can't fool me! Just because you took his shape doesn't mean you could ever replace him! I drove him off with my stupidity and now he's dead! You killed him! But I will not allow my stupidity to dishonor him!" "Bulma it's me!" he said trying to remain calm. He stepped toward her causing her to attack him with another onslaught of her meager pounds to his chest. He grabbed her wrists, losing all sense of control and squeezed. She yelped in pain once but then remained silent. Realizing what he had done, he released Bulma and stepped away, "Bulma, I-I'm so sorry.. I didn't m-mean it honest.. I just.." "Demon spawn! You are nothing more than a sick murderer! I hate you with a hate deeper than you can ever fathom! Y-You think you're something? You think you're anything special? You're not! You aren't worth the Earth you stand on or the air you breathe! You're worthless! And you'll pay for all of your crimes!" with that she jumped at him, catching Vegeta off guard. She pounded at him with more power than he had ever seen her muster. He could hardly see where the punches were coming from in the pitch-black. "Woman!" Bulma stopped mid-punch. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Vegeta felt the tiny droplets land softly on his face. She climbed off of him with her hand over her mouth, "V-Vegeta?" She walked backwards until she bumped into the wall of the house. Tears were flowing freely now and Bulma believed herself hallucinating. She reached out one more time to feel for Vegeta and found him. Hope leapt in her heart. He was alive, in great pain that flowed through her every pore, but the fact remained that he lived. Bulma pushed all of her concentration towards locating Vegeta. She hadn't tried it before but she had been able to tell if he was far away. She closed her eyes and searched for him. Searched for his mind. "Bulma?" the man said in a questioning tone. Bulma ignored him and drove her focus for him and his location. Her eyes didn't and wouldn't open until she knew his location, "Bulma what are you doing?" After a few minutes Bulma's eyes shot open and she was trembling with the emotions that were threatening to rise up and swallow her whole, "It is you!" she sobbed quietly. She trembled with joy, anger, sorrow, and love. "You doubted me?" Vegeta asked with his immovable smirk. Her heart almost evaporated at his arrogance. She had come to know it so well that it was like his normal self to her by then. He walked slowly toward her but stopped from the pain. He didn't wince or even show any signs of pain, but Bulma did. She had grimaced. Not a very obvious movement, but Vegeta had caught it. Could she feel his pain? No. Of course not.. it wasn't possible. But she had. "You're in pain. Let me help y-you to a chair." she sniffled walking towards Vegeta. "How do you know that I'm in pain?" Vegeta asked calmly, "I haven't given you any sign of that." "I'm not sure how I know, I just do." She helped Vegeta across the balcony one slow painful step at a time. They sat next to Trunks who lay sound asleep still, "Is he in a coma?" Bulma asked checking Trunks's pulse. It was rather slow. "Kinda. He used a lot of energy to protect you by putting an energy shield around the whole of West City. He wanted to be sure that nothing with a high power level would make through to Capsule Corp without his knowledge of it. It was a brilliant idea, but he used to much energy and as soon as I passed through it, it dissipated." Vegeta explained quietly. He leaned back and closed his eyes, "He'll need a cenzu bean to heal his fatigue and to replenish his strength and then we need to leave. We have to get out of here. " "They'll be coming for you and Trunks won't they?" Bulma whispered. "You know about them?" Vegeta asked looking at her, surprise in his eyes. Bulma nodded slowly and he shook his head, "They don't want me or Trunks. They released me knowing that I would come home.." he paused, "They want you." "Me?" Bulma asked taken aback, "Why me? I'm no Z warrior. Goku told me that they are systematically attacking the Z warriors." "They are only after the Z warriors because they would protect you. You and that brain of yours.." Vegeta sighed. He was exhausted, Bulma could feel it and the lines on his face showed the pain he didn't want her to know about, but she felt that too, "The dark one, he. he wants your knowledge of time travel. Something about an old rival from the past he needs to settle a score with. I told him that I didn't know you or who you were. I told him.." "You told him that there was no such thing as time travel." she finished. He looked at her questioningly, "I dreamt it. I dreamt that a tall man with dark clothes, eyes and a sallow complexion. He asked you a lot of questions, but I couldn't hear them. I only knew your replies.. When you didn't give the answer he wanted to hear, he would leave for the day. but his servant would come and-and he'd.." Bulma broke off, a tear sliding down her cheek, which she wiped away. She ran her hand through her hair and allowed a slow shaky breath to escape her mouth. She regained her composure and added, "I don't know how I remembered the dream.. I didn't even think about until now. I'm so sorry, Vegeta. This is my fault entirely.. If I hadn't been so pig-headed I wouldn't have.." "Shhh. Bulma, it wasn't all your fault. I shouldn't have called you a crackpot scientist. I had no right. You're intelligent, brilliant even, and beautiful." Vegeta sighed wiping a tear gingerly from her face. "See, admitting your faults isn't difficult, is it? But I don't know how beautiful I am. And as for the intelligence factor, a lot of good that's done for me. My whole life my intelligence has done nothing but get me into trouble. Even back when we went to Namek, I got dragged into it because I was the only one with the expertise to pilot the ship safely. Then there was the time when Frieza's men made me take them to the Dragon ball under water with my water suit. It does more bad than good. Look at what happened to you for instance.." "Well, the important thing now is that we get you, your parents and Trunks somewhere safe." Vegeta said standing. Bulma felt his pain and ordered him to sit. She went to the gravity chamber in the backyard and got the reserve cenzu beans from their compartment. But she didn't go back. She stopped at the door to their bedroom. Vegeta was afraid, terrified. She felt his anger and his defiance and she knew that the dark man was there. She could hear their voices. "Where is she, Vegeta?" a scratchy, but powerful voice asked quietly. His voice was mesmerizing but firm. Bulma closed her eyes and tried to see what Vegeta was seeing. The tall man was standing in the middle of the balcony towering over her husband threateningly. He was holding a dagger in his hand that he was twirling it casually between long spindly fingers. She wanted desperately to run in and help her family but Vegeta would kill her, granted the dark man didn't kidnap her first. Bulma wanted to call Goku, but she couldn't. She didn't have a link with Goku, but Vegeta did. If only she could reach him. She knew that he couldn't pick up on her. He was like a beacon and she was the only one on the receiving end. Bulma decided to reach for Goku anyway. And she didn't know why, but he heard her. He arrived in front of Bulma using the instant transmission. "What's wrong?" Goku asked looking tired and slightly irritated. "He's here. He's out on the terrace with Trunks and Vegeta." Bulma whispered, "He has a knife and I can feel an immense power radiating from him." "Wait. You can sense him?" Goku asked shocked. "That's not important right now. Right now I want you to help my family Goku, please." Goku nodded softly and signaled with his fingers for her to wait a moment. He disappeared and when he reappeared he had Gohan, Piccolo, and Goten with him. Goku began discussing a plan of action when suddenly Bulma let out and agonizing, high-pitched scream.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Come now, Vegeta. She can't really mean that much to you. You're a saiyan. Saiyans care for no one but themselves." the man said moving closer to Vegeta. He was still seated, unable to move. The man stopped directly in front of Vegeta, "She's connected to you, you know. She has her own psychic abilities. That's how she's able to calculate things so easily and how come she was able to know and feel what you knew and felt. So if you don't tell me where she is, I'll have to hurt you. But, before you let your big head get the best of you, remember that what you feel, she feels." "You're lying." Vegeta hissed in anger and hate. He stared up at the man defiantly, waiting for the pain, praying that Bulma wouldn't come, and hoping that he was wrong about her. The dark man's mouth curved into a cruel smile. He sent an impulse into Vegeta's head, ordering him to stand. He did. The dark man raised the knife and brought it swiftly down, burying it deep between his neck and collarbone. Then he heard it. The scream of a woman. Vegeta's eyes filled with anger, hatred, pain and worry. The dark man sensed Vegeta's want and need to move, but the man held Vegeta still with his mind as he had during his servant's torture sessions. He raised the blade again and drove it deep into Vegeta's other shoulder. Blood oozed out of the wounds as the man raised it again and aimed for Vegeta's heart. He began to bring it down but was knocked to the floor by a kick to the head. Trunks had awoken finally, still tired and lacking a lot of energy. His mother's screams had awoken him. He turned as Goku came running onto the terrace with Gohan, Goten, and Piccolo. He and the others made a line between the dark man, Vegeta, and the door. Vegeta could hear Bulma's sobbing and pain filled wails. He wanted to run to her, make everything all better again, but Vegeta couldn't move. He heard the sobs grow closer. She was in the bedroom. He cursed under his breath at his own incompetence and tried once again to move. His fingers balled into a fist. The dark man stood slowly and rounded on the Z warriors.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma grimaced in pain trying to hold back her sobs. She reached the terrace door and peered around it. Vegeta stood still as a statue and the others stood between the door and the dark man. His dark eyes were fixed on her as a triumphant smirk crossed the hard line of his mouth. He held up a hand that forced the Z warriors to separate and then he focused on Bulma's slender body, willing it to his hand. Bulma gasped as she was pulled by some unseen force, directly into the dark man's hand. His long fingers wrapped tightly around her throat but allowing her to breathe a small amount of oxygen. Vegeta had felt the man's attention drop from him allowing him to move. He charged at the man but stopped when he heard Bulma's breathing become labored. A choking sound escaped her throat warning everyone away. "I wouldn't come any closer Vegeta. I won't hesitate to kill her or the child she carries." the man threatened. Vegeta stopped and visibly paled, "You didn't know? How interesting." "Let her go. Or else." "Or else what?" the man mocked, "There isn't a thing you can do to me and you know it, Vegeta. No, it's my turn to make the demands. Here it is. Back off and allow me to leave, or watch her die." Bulma was clutching at his cloak. She wanted to bite his hand but couldn't. She felt herself growing dizzy, "What's it going to be, Vegeta? Allow your torturer to escape with your lover or allow her to die?" he paused, "Oh, but do think quickly, she's dying." Vegeta wanted to jump at the man, fists flying and knock that sure smile off his face, but he caught the look of terror and pleading in Bulma's wide blue eyes. He let out a long sigh and lowered his head in defeat. Trunks stared at his father horrified that he would allow this brute to take his mother. "Good show, Vegeta." the man said dropping a gasping and coughing Bulma to the floor. He picked her up, still coughing and sputtering, and threw her over his shoulder. Giving a quick look at the angry Z warriors, he added, "Don't be so glum! I won't forget you. Ask Vegeta, we have loads of. fun together." The man laughed cruelly and took off into the air. "VEGETA! HELP ME, PLEASE!" Bulma screamed through the dark sky, "HELP!" Vegeta charged up, ready to take off, but Goku put hand on his shoulder, "No, Vegeta. If we go after her, that man will kill her." "No, he wouldn't." Vegeta growled, "I wouldn't let him! Besides, he wants her to make a time machine for him! He needs her!" "Vegeta, he could simply get her blue-prints from the lab." Goku replied trying not to growl himself, "Vegeta, I know what you must be feeling, but remember, she our friend as well. If you go after her, he will kill her. I read it in his intentions." he paused, "Or he let me read his intentions.." "Dad, please?" Trunks whispered. He was pleading with his father to stand down, while every cell in his body screamed for them to help his mother. He swallowed his own wishes and added, "Goku is right. He'll just kill mom. We need a plan right now." "HOW CAN YOU NOT WANT TO HELP? DO YOU NOT HEAR HER SCREAMS? SHE'S PETRIFIED!" Vegeta hollered, rounding on the warriors. His body screamed in pain, and he heard Bulma scream more. He froze, "What do you think will happen to her when he finishes with her? You think he'll just let her come home? He killed Krillen and 18 because they told him that I was her husband!" Vegeta stopped, "But I wouldn't tell. so he-" "It's okay, Vegeta." Gohan comforted. "No, he has a point!" Piccolo said in his powerful voice, making everyone but Vegeta turn to face him. Vegeta sat in a chair and put his face in his hands, "He killed Krillen and 18when they had given him the information he could use! He'll kill Bulma for the same reason!" "Well, then why didn't he kill Vegeta?" Gohan asked. "Because, he allowed Vegeta to escape. He wanted him to lead him to Bulma and Vegeta had to. So when he couldn't get Gohan, he told Vegeta to leave. But Vegeta couldn't leave Bulma at Capsule Corp without protection or the man would find her another way and take her anyway." Goten spoke up from next to Vegeta. He put a hand on Vegeta's shoulder, "Right?" Vegeta nodded into his hands, trying to hide his tears of failure, but his shoulders shook despite his efforts. Trunks went to his father, although he knew that the warrior would not want comforting. The others fell into silence. They had only ever seen Vegeta cry once and that was only when he had lost all hope against Frieza. Goku signaled for everyone to leave Vegeta to himself. Vegeta heard everyone leave and was thankful for it. 


	3. The Time Machine

Chapter Three The Time Machine  
  
"Where are you taking me?" Bulma shouted as the lights of West City faded in the distance. "I'm taking you to my lab. It's in a cave just.." he answered, but paused scowling, "You just never mind. You'll see when we get there." Bulma let out a sigh and shifted uncomfortably on the man's shoulder. She felt it digging into her stomach and she put a hand under her to protect the baby. After a while she felt the man began to make his initial descent towards the ground. He landed gracefully and threw her to the ground mumbling something about following him. She stood up shakily and looked at her present surroundings. She was in a forest. Tall pines reached toward the sky above her. Brushing her clothes lightly, she chased after the man who was now waiting for her impatiently. She ran towards him. "Try and keep up, if you want that child in your stomach to see its father." the man sneered. He turned away and walked into a cave just ahead of them. Bulma hesitated at the entrance. The mouth of the cave looked like that of a lion's mouth, with the stalactites and stalagmites as teeth. She walked though the yawning cat's mouth and followed the man. The cave was dark and Bulma felt as though she had just been swallowed by it. She rubbed the place where Vegeta had been stabbed and sighed. It didn't hurt anymore. He must have gotten a cenzu bean from Goku. Bulma followed the man through the winding path of the cave until it finally opened into a large, well-lit cavern. They were standing on a ledge that wound down to the floor below where tables sat with tools and equipment on them. Everything she would need to construct the time machine. She had been working on the plans for months and now all it needed was to be built. She followed the man to the floor and stood behind him as he conversed in a foreign tongue with his servant. The one from her dream. "As you wish, Lord Ja'kunah." the servant said giving Bulma a sweeping glance. She almost physically winced at the hunger in his eyes. She froze as the servant came back with a ball and chain in his hands. He approached her with a smile, but Bulma couldn't move away. She felt another presence in her mind. One that made her hold still as if she were being physically held. She felt the cold steel clamp tightly around her bare ankle before the hold in her mind finally ceased. The servant backed away slowly from her feet only pausing to give her leg a slight pinch. Bulma felt her insides run cold and her skin begin to crawl. "This is just an extra precaution. I wouldn't want you escaping." Ja'kunah muttered coldly. He gave her a weak smile and left. "The master wants you to get a lot of rest." Dorei, the servant told her, "He says that you are the key to his revenge. A bed is over there, and in the morning you can use the bathroom through that door, before you get to work. By then I'll have your blueprints from your office, I think." the man said with a smirk. He reached out and gave her face a light caress. Bulma recoiled from his touch, "Ah, come now missy, I ain't gonna hurt'cha. I just want to have a little fun, that's all. Get better acquainted...." Bulma tried to move away, but the ball stopped her progress and she fell to the floor. Dorei walked towards her with an evil grin as he moved his hand slowly up her skirt. Bulma tried to scream but the mental push was there again. She was completely helpless.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Vegeta sat up in bed completely alert. He hadn't been asleep only pretending to in case the dark man returned. He had felt the extra presence in the house as soon as they had stepped onto the porch. He had known of every human and creature present in the house. The animals in the gardens didn't flinch without Vegeta knowing; Trunks was downstairs in the living room worried and pacing; his mother and father-in-law were sleeping in their room; and Goten had gone to get Trunks a glass of water from the kitchen where Goku and Gohan were talking about Bulma's predicament. Vegeta jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs, past a confused Trunks and out the door where a man was trying to climb into the basement window. Vegeta knew him instantly as his ex-torturer. Vegeta pounced on the unsuspecting man with fire in his eyes and hatred in his heart. He grabbed him off the floor by his neck and slammed him against a wall. The man reeked with the filth of the blood of hundreds of murdered souls. But then he caught the scent of something else.... Bulma's perfume. He reeked of her. "What have you done to her?" Vegeta hollered slamming him against the wall again. By now the others had come out and were standing by, watching the saiyan prince until Goku came out, "Vegeta! What are you doing?" "This is Ja'kunah's lackey, Kakarott! He's the one who held me prisoner!" Vegeta shouted so angrily Goku wasn't sure who he was for a moment. Vegeta then turned back to the man, "Where is she?" Dorei simply smirked. 


	4. Finished

Chapter Four  
Finished  
By Moon Knight  
  
Vegeta growled in response, "Where's Bulma? What did you do to her?"  
  
"Oh, you mean that tramp my master brought back with him? I didn't do anything much… I just got better… acquainted with her…." the man chuckled.  
  
"What does that mean? Did you touch her?" Vegeta roared jumping at him again, "If you touch a hair on her head I'll kill you!"  
  
"Why would you want to go and do something like that? The little tramp was enjoying herself! She definitely knows how to please a man."  
  
Vegeta paled. He paused taking in what he had said. When he finally regained his composure slightly, it was taken over by anger. He growled a threat at him and tackled the man to the ground. By this time Goku and Gohan had jumped in and were now holding the man as Vegeta pummeled him to a pulp. He didn't falter until the man began to laugh.  
  
"You can't kill me Vegeta!" he laughed, "If I don't return my master will kill your woman."  
  
"You lie!" Vegeta hissed.  
  
"Then kill me and find out." he replied smiling. Vegeta paused staring at the man. He searched his eyes for any sign of lying, "Of course you could just let me get what I came for and go, but know this. Every punch you gave to me, I'll return to Bulma every night until she's free to go."  
  
Goku and Gohan watched Vegeta carefully, looking for any indication of his faltering. Looking for any sign for them to release the man.   
  
"See, you can't kill me. Can't even avenge your own pain because of your little tramp!" the man spat.  
  
Vegeta's anger flared. He raised his fist to hit the man but Goku grabbed him roughly and forced Vegeta to look at him, "No, Vegeta! That's exactly what he wants you to do! He's trying to coax you into hurting him! Think about it, Vegeta. He has the upper hand in this situation! Both physically and with the rest of the situation! If we kill him, Bulma dies. If we hurt him, he can hurt Bulma."  
  
Vegeta stopped. He looked at the battered body in front of him. Guilt washed over him. He would hurt Bulma, he had already promised to. And now it was Vegeta's fault. He dropped his arms and his head and signaled for Gohan to let him go. After everything Vegeta had ever done to keep her and Trunks safe, now it was he who would be the cause of her pain. Although it would be indirectly, it was he who would cause her suffering.  
  
After the man got the blueprints and left, Vegeta slumped to the ground and sobbed as his anger, sorrow, guilt, and hatred of himself surrounded him and made him deaf to everyone's encouraging words.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma sat trembling as she struggled to put her tattered dress back on. Her hands shook violently and her face was wet with salty tears. She stopped putting the dress on and went to the bathroom to shower. When she had finished taking her bath, she slid the ripped dress over her head, but found it to be useless. Screaming in frustration, Bulma dropped to the floor and rocked silently; hugging her stomach she began whispering the lullaby she used to sing to Trunks while he was a baby.  
  
"You have a beautiful voice." Ja'kunah said quietly from the ledge. Bulma wrapped her blanket tightly around herself as a barrier from his touch. He smirked as he jumped off the ledge and landed softly on the ground. He walked, or rather glided, toward her smiling. He pulled a package out of his cloak and held it out to her patiently waiting for her to take it. She hesitated for a few moments staring at it. She was afraid of what might be in it. She prayed to Kami that it wasn't a body part of Vegeta or Trunks. This man was a murderer. For all she knew, he would take pleasure in showing a body part of her family to her. She took the package from him with a trembling hand, "Open it."  
  
She did, slowly. She untied the string and allowed the brown paper to unfold itself. A pack of her capsules fell out as well as a few things of underwear and a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She lifted a confused glance to Ja'kunah. She felt the chain on her ankle drop away and looked at it in confusion.  
  
"Think of it as a promise. If you build me my time machine, I will allow you to leave and I shall leave you and your family alone. However, this arrangement also requires a great deal of trust in both of our parts. I have removed the chains in trust that you won't leave. If you do I will hunt you and your family for the rest of eternity. Leave and you will watch them die."  
  
Bulma nodded sadly, knowing that building the time machine would mean separation from her family for months. She picked up her things trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over the threshold of her eyelids. The man left the room and Bulma to herself. She sat on the bed and got dressed into the jeans and tee shirt. She then picked up her capsules and looked through them. Her plane was there as well as her emergency house. She grabbed this capsule and threw it at the ground. Maybe with the house she could keep that greasy troll away from her and her baby.  
  
"Vegeta," she whispered, "I'm going to do this. Forgive me, but this is something that I have to do. It's for you and Trunks's safety." she rubbed her stomach, "It's for you too."  
  
After Bulma found a few spare droids in the capsules, she told them to take all the tables and the bed inside. She then took out the capsule with her dresser. Since her original search for the dragon balls as a child, she had learned to always carry extra clothes in her capsules. After she was settled in, and her house had all the comforts of home, she turned on her computer and began working. It didn't take her long before she had to stop. Vegeta was angry about something involving Bulma. His anger was like a cloak that covered her emotions until his fueled her own rage. She shook away the waves of emotion but they just kept coming back.   
  
"Vegeta, what's wrong?" she shouted. She pushed as hard as she could at his emotions and turned her full attention to her work. Something that she had developed when Vegeta had been living with them, preparing for the androids. She had learned how to block out everything but the task at hand. She had even learned to block out her hunger, emotions, and fatigue. She worked for a little more than an hour before Dorei came back.   
  
"Hey, Missy!" he shouted pounding on the door, "Come out here!"  
  
Bulma froze and her stomach clenched. Her hands began to tremble again as she opened the desk drawer and pulled out a gun, slipping it lightly into her pocket. She stood slowly and went to the door. She opened the door and forced herself not to throw up on the greasy man in front of her. Bulma noticed that he had been hurt on his trip to her house and tried to hold back the smile already threatening to cross her lips. Vegeta or Trunks had gotten to him, and by the look of it, it had been Vegeta. He smiled and tried to come in, but she pushed on his chest and forced him out of her house.  
  
"Just give me the blueprints." Bulma said firmly. She had controlled the tremors on the outside but on the inside she was jelly. The man smiled again with a quick skim over his lips with his tongue. Bulma felt the lump develop in her throat. She swallowed it, "I want to get straight to work, but I need my blueprints to make the time-machine."  
  
"What? You don't want to have a little fun first?" he asked grabbing her around the backside and pulling her closer. She pulled away from him, "Well, you're gonna have to earn these, sweet heart."  
  
"Oh? Well then lets see what I can do." Bulma said slyly. She sashayed the distance between them with her hips and put her arm around his neck gently caressing his back. He closed his eyes in pleasure. Bulma grabbed the blueprints, yanking them from his grasp and went back inside, slamming the door in his face.  
  
"You little tramp! Get out here right now! I ain't through with you yet!" he screamed pounding on the door. Bulma smiled at her own bravado and went back to her desk. She heard the man's screams of frustration and knew that he could easily break the door down. But his master hadn't told him he could and she knew that he wouldn't. After a few minutes she heard his fist slam on the door so hard that the whole house shook. Finally she heard the man's scream of frustration as he stormed off.   
  
"You are quite lucky."   
  
Bulma inhaled sharply and whipped around to see Ja'kunah sitting on one of her living room chairs. She let the breath out slowly relieved that it wasn't Dorei again, but still afraid of this man as well.   
  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you. Remember, I made a promise and I always try to keep my promises depending on the size. This was a small favor considering what you are doing for me, so I shall honor my promise to the best of my abilities." he explained.  
  
"Thank you, sir." Bulma murmured. She tried to control it but the same thought kept coming back. Why did he let his servant get the best of her in the first place?  
  
"Because I had not made the promise yet, besides, I did not think that he would dare try it. I had not told him he could, nor had I forbidden it. What he did was on his own accord. That is why I gave you your capsules, that way you could come in here and not be worried about him coming in. He is from a civilization that will not come in unless invited or ordered. He is not very civilized, I'll admit, but since I did not order him, and you did not invite him, he could not come in."  
  
Bulma nodded, "Thank you, and it isn't that I'm not grateful for everything that you've already done, its just, I would like to make another request." she paused waiting for a reaction. After a moment she got a nod and continued, "I would like protection over my family. I know that that wasn't part of the deal, but you even said that it was a small favor you were giving me compared to mine. If you did this, I'd call it even."  
  
After several moments Ja'kunah nodded, "Deal."  
  
"Thank you!" Bulma gasped trembling with the joy. More joy than she had felt in almost two months and she gave her first true smile in just as long. She regained her composure and nodded an acknowledgment to him.   
  
"I will leave you now to your work. I expect that it shall be finished in a week."  
  
"A week?" Bulma shouted in shock.  
  
"Is a week not fair? I am protecting you and your family am I not? Is it not your husband and your friends who are my enemies? Yet, I am to protect them? A week, I believe is fair enough."  
  
"But, I'll never finish this in a week!" Bulma protested angrily. She waved her hands to encompass the room of tables and equipment, "It'll take a week to build the generator, and then there's the cockpit and the boosters. Plus there's testing and fine-tuning! All of which can take months!"  
  
"One week, two at the most." he replied firmly, "In two weeks the arrangement will be terminated and your family will be subjected to whatever suits my servant, Dorei."  
  
"Please, I need more time!" Bulma sobbed remembering the feel of Dorei's rough but powerful touch, "I'll need at least three months!"  
  
Ja'kunah thought this over and regarded Bulma carefully, "Fine, I shall extend the deadline to one month. But no longer."  
  
"That's not enough time!"  
  
"Then make it enough time!" he roared towering over Bulma. She glared angrily at him, looking brave, but feeling like a mouse staring down a cat, "If the time-machine is not ready in one month, then I'll kill your friends and family one at a time, until it is finished."  
  
"But that isn't fair!" Bulma whined feeling anger and fear battling in her for control. Logic was out the window.  
  
"Life isn't fair! Deal with this as if it were any other problem!" he shouted, "You were chosen for this task because of your mechanical expertise and because it was rumored that you were in the process of creating a time-machine."   
  
"What did this person do to you that you need to go back in time to seek revenge?" Bulma shouted. Her anger had beaten back her fear, "You lost, big deal! Take your own advice! Deal with it! So it wasn't fair! LIFE isn't fair!"  
  
Bulma didn't see the hand until it was too late to move but she felt its long fingers sting her face. She fell to the floor and slid into the wall, "Don't you EVER say such things in such a tone to me! I could have you killed and find someone else to build the machine for me!" Ja'kunah thundered.  
  
Even after all this, Bulma's anger wasn't even fazed enough for the fear to take over, "So, you'd have me killed? Well, then why not go call someone to do it? You obviously don't like having the blood on yourself! So call someone else to do your dirty work!"  
  
"What did you say to me?"   
  
"You heard me! Or would you rather I put it into simpler terms. You're a coward!" she screamed, but when Ja'kunah moved closer Bulma recoiled against the wall in fear, her anger finally losing and her logic was back.   
  
"If you value your life and the life of the child in your stomach then I would watch what I say if I were you!" he hissed. He gave Bulma one angry glance before disappearing into thin air.  
  
Bulma let out a sigh and went to work. She had a month to finish the time machine and she promised herself and she would finish in time. She sat down and opened the desk drawer, replacing the gun. As she set it down, her eye caught a glimpse of something under the pile of papers in the drawer. She looked around before lifting the papers enough to see a pocket transmitter. Bulma's breath caught. She closed her eyes and smiled. Now she could call Vegeta and be rescued. She could go home. Goku could instant transmission to her and…. Suddenly Ja'kunah's words entered her mind, 'If you leave, I'll hunt you and your family for the rest of eternity.'  
  
Bulma slumped into her seat. She couldn't leave. Not yet. Ja'kunah would kill her family and then her. Besides Goku and the others would have already tried the instant transmission. They would have found her, but Ja'kunah probably had traps set and shields up. Even if he didn't, would she really leave. Bulma knew the answer. She would stay. She would've stayed and finished the time machine. Vegeta would've, no, will be angry, Bulma thought, But this is something I just have to do.   
  
She looked at the transmitter and turned it on. She entered the code for the lab and prayed that someone was there. The transmitter rang for a few minutes before Bulma turned it off and looked at the clock. It was four o'clock. Trunks would be at Goten's, and Vegeta would be… training! Bulma thought as she dialed the code for the gravity chamber. They had put a transmitter in the new ship when she had been pregnant with Trunks. Bulma had no idea how she remembered the code since it had never been used, but she did.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Vegeta stopped the onslaught of blasts that he was giving to Goku and listened. A ringing was sounding and he wasn't sure what it was coming from.  
  
"What is that?" Goku asked looking around, "Do you have a transmitter on this thing?"  
  
Vegeta's head whipped around to face the panel in the wall near the door. He flew over and hit the flashing button. A panel slid open to reveal a hidden display screen. It bleeped on to show a smiling Bulma. Vegeta swallowed waiting to awaken from this apparent dream. But he knew that he was awake by the sad look in her eyes. She was only smiling on the outside.  
  
"Hello, Vegeta." she whispered seemingly on the verge of tears. He froze remorse rising in his heart. She had a bruise forming on her face and her arms were covered in finger-sized bruises.  
  
"Bulma, are you alright?" he asked loudly, "Where are you? We'll be there as soon as possible! Did he hurt you? Where is he? How-"  
  
"Vegeta! I don't have the time!" she interrupted holding up a hand, "Tell my family that I'm going to stay. I can't tell you where I am, only that I'll be fine. I've decided that I'm going to finish the time-machine for Ja'kunah."  
  
"Like hell you are!" Vegeta hollered, "I forbid it Bulma! Tell us where you are and we'll come get you, but it's far to dangerous for you there!"   
  
"Vegeta, I'm sorry…." she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the screen in her lap, "But I can't tell you where I am…. I'll be okay. This is just something that I have to do. I'll try to find out what I can here and tell you as the information comes…."  
  
"NO!" Vegeta shouted desperately, although he knew that it was useless. Of all the years they had been married, one thing that Vegeta had learned was that Bulma didn't listen to a word that he said.  
  
"I have no choice in the matter, Vegeta! I have to do this! If I don't he'll kill you and Trunks! I can't allow that…."  
  
"How long will you need?" Goku asked quietly from behind Vegeta.  
  
"Longer than I have! He's giving me a month before he starts to go after my friends! A month! I need at least three…. So I have to work day and night to finish in time and I still won't get to test it, but if I'm lucky, he'll be destroyed when something goes wrong."  
  
Vegeta remained quiet knowing how big of a decision this must be for her but also knowing that Bulma never backs down from a challenge. He locked eye contact with his wife and gave her a slight nod. She smiled weakly and nodded back as another tear slid down her face. She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the screen before she clicked it off.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The following week was the hardest Bulma had ever been through. She worked 22 hours a day to finish the generator before the week was up. When she finished that ahead of time she allowed herself to sleep that night for as long as her body needed. She awoke on Monday of the next week and got straight back to work, cursing herself for sleeping two days. She finished the cockpit next and then put the generator and cockpit in the body of the ship that she had made the droids build. Bulma was amazed when she realized that she had finished the time machine in a week in a half. She decided to tell Ja'kunah so that she could leave the next morning. She went outside and heard voices coming from the other room.   
  
"So, when are you going back to?" Dorei's sniveling voice asked excitedly.  
  
"I'm thinking, before that despicable human is trained. Maybe during its teenage years." Ja'kunah replied coolly.  
  
"A teenager? How old?"  
  
"Perhaps fourteen."  
  
"Do you think I could have a piece?   
  
Ja'kunah was silent for a moment, "Why, not?"  
  
"Thank you, my lord…." Dorei muttered, "So then we're going to the year….?"  
  
"March 15, 2020."  
  
Bulma gasped and ran back to her house. She shut the door quietly and thought over what the men had said. They were going to kill an untrained teenager? How could she give the time machine to him? But Bulma knew that she had no choice. However, she still had just enough time to copy the time machine and go back to help the child. She looked around. There were just enough materials left to build a second generator but not enough to build a new body. She sighed and put her hands in her pockets and found the capsule container.   
  
'The plane!' she thought suddenly, 'That has the perfect shape for the time-machine!'  
  
She ran to the living room, changed the time machine back into a capsule, and began building a new generator. She finished the second one in two days since she had already built one before. When the cockpit for the second one was done and installed, Bulma climbed in and tested it out. She went forward in time three minutes. When she climbed out of the time machine, she shrank it into a capsule and slid it into her pocket right before Ja'kunah walked in.   
  
"How's it coming? It has to be done tomorrow, you know." he said looking around the room frowning when he didn't see the time-machine, "Well?"  
  
Bulma glared at him, but pulled out the capsule case and threw the capsule out the window. He went out to examine it with Bulma behind him. After a few minutes he smirked and said, "Excellent."  
  
"May I leave now?"  
  
"Not quite." he replied turning away. Dorei came up from behind her and threw her roughly to the ground.  
  
"But, you said you'd protect me!" Bulma screamed trying to push the man off of her.  
  
"And have I not? I told you that I would protect you until you finished, and I have. You have finished the craft and thus I have finished my promise of protection."  
  
Bulma stared at him horrified as the familiar hold resumed in her mind.  
  
********** 


	5. Return

Chapter Five  
Return  
By Moon Knight  
  
"Where is she?" Vegeta asked concern drowning his voice. He paced back and forth in the gravity chamber where he, Goku and Gohan had slept the last few weeks, "She said she'd call! But we haven't heard a damn word!" he paused paling and looking at Goku, "Do you think they found out about the call? Do you think they would hurt her?"  
  
"I don't know, Vegeta." Goku replied slowly, "I can't say that they wouldn't but I can't say that they would, or that they have."   
  
"Besides, Vegeta, Bulma's a strong woman. She'll be fine. All they want is the time-machine, right?" Gohan added, "Well, Bulma will finish and then they'll let her go."  
  
"Yeah…I guess." Vegeta sighed leaning against a wall and closing his eyes. A beeping interrupted the silence and Vegeta's eyes sprang open. Gohan pushed the button to reveal a distraught Bulma. Her face was tight from tears and she looked as though she had been awake for days. Vegeta charged over to the panel and shoved Gohan to the floor, "Bulma, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing…" Bulma lied shifting uncomfortably, "I finished the time-machine. He's leaving tomorrow and he's going to drop me home before he leaves. He's going to the year 2020. March 15 to be precise…" Bulma paused, "His target is a fourteen year old, Vegeta. Whoever it is, is the same age as Trunks. We can't let him."  
  
"But, what are we supposed to do about it?" Vegeta asked ignoring the question of what had happened that his spirited wife looked and sounded so empty, "He has the time-machine, not us."  
  
"I made a second one. We can go back to a week before he does and find this mystery person. They go to a high school called, Monavali High. Surely this person would have an exceptional power level."  
  
"Are you sure your up to it?" Vegeta asked not bothering to hide his worry.  
  
Bulma paused thinking. Dorei had taken advantage of her again, she did not know where she was, and she was exhausted. Bulma had practically nothing left to give and sleep did no good. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, "Yes."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma stood quietly next to the entrance of the cave as Ja'kunah prepared the time machine. He entered the code Bulma had given him (which sent him a week after his original target date) and waited for the computer to verify it as a valid code. Dorei walked past her and winked.  
  
Bulma turned away abruptly and walked to a nearby tree. He followed her and grabbed her from behind.  
  
"How about a little more fun before I leave?" he whispered in her ear. He grasped her buttocks and Bulma felt her lunch inching up its way to her throat, "Come on, honey, what d'ya say?"  
  
That was all she could stand. Bulma threw up on the ground in front of her. She felt the waves of nausea threatening to take her over and make her pass out. She grasped to the tree for support and held her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. When she was done a hand appeared in front of her holding a handkerchief. It was Ja'kunah. Dorei was nowhere to be seen as Bulma wiped her mouth with the cloth.  
  
"I must thank you. The time-machine seems to be in perfect condition." he said quietly. Bulma glared at him angrily. He smirked at her anger enjoying it thoroughly, "You think it was wrong of me to allow my servant pleasure? Deal with it. I could've killed you instead."  
  
Bulma stood up slowly, glaring at the tall man, and walked away without a word.   
  
"Oh, and by the way, I've decided not to take you home. I think you can find your own way home."  
  
"But, you promised!" Bulma shouted hoarsely. Even as the words escaped her throat, she knew how pathetic she sounded, "I gave you the time-machine in return for protection for myself and my family, which you did not fulfill. Then you say that you'll take me home but now you break that promise? That isn't fair!"  
  
"Deal with it." he replied simply.  
  
"But I don't even know where West City is from here!" Bulma argued.  
  
"Find it. Maybe you can use that transmitter of yours to contact your husband again."  
  
Bulma paled. This was her fault. Everything that had happened to her over the past few days had been due to her own stupidity. If she hadn't called Vegeta to tell him that she would stay, Ja'kunah would have kept up his end of the bargain. No he wouldn't have, she thought, he would have probably done the same thing.  
  
She walked to the entrance of the cave and grabbed her capsules out of her bag. She threw one down that made her house and went inside. When she reached the desk she opened the drawer and found the transmitter. It was smashed to a hundred pieces.  
  
A lump settled in her throat as any hope that she had had (which hadn't been much) dissipated. She slumped to the floor and began crying softly. She rubbed her now large stomach and wondered how she was to survive this ordeal. She knew that physically she would be fine, but emotionally and mentally? That was still up for the toss.  
  
Bulma hugged herself and began to hum softly but sadly. Her voice cracked several times and her throat felt dry. Outside she could hear the time machine firing up. Then it hit her. She still had her time machine! And it was attached to an airplane! Bulma could've laughed if the situation was different and she could remember what it was like to feel joy again.  
  
After the two men had left, Bulma closed the house and put it away. She then pulled out her plane/time-machine and climbed in. Her radar showed that West City was approximately 100 miles to the south of her. She took off and flew as quickly as she could. It was a five-minute flight but Bulma dreaded going home. She knew that in a month she had completely changed and facing her family, however much her heart longed for it, would torment her. She set the plane to autopilot and entered the code for landing into the computer. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Her hands were trembling as she covered her face with them. Before she knew it the computer let off a beeping sounding telling her that they were landing. She lowered her hands when they were on the ground and looked at her house. It seemed empty, almost as if it were a ghost house. Bulma froze. Ja'kunah hadn't kept his other promises….  
  
She jumped out of the panjandrum that circled and swirled through her mind and went into the quiet house. She ran to the backyard, which seemed normal. Bulma looked around before running upstairs to find Trunks bleeding and unconscious on the hallway floor. She ran to her son and checked for a pulse. He was alive, barely. He had a head trauma but he would be fine for a few minutes while she located the others. She wondered for a moment why she hadn't felt any emotions or pain from Vegeta but she knew the answer. She couldn't feel his emotions when she was so detached from her own.  
  
She ran down the debris littered hallway to the next room. It was her mother and father's. Nothing. She went to the next and so on but she didn't find anything until she reached the guest wing. Goku lay sprawled out on the floor moving slowly towards an unconscious Gohan.  
  
"Goku!" Bulma shouted running to her two friends. She checked Gohan's pulse and smiled to Goku, "He's fine. Just hurt." She looked swiftly around, "Where's Vegeta and Goten and my parents?"  
  
"Vegeta was-was in your room the last time I-I-I saw him. He had been s-sleeping and Goten left last night to watch Ch-Chichi and Videl…" Goku said slowly, "Your parents are with them…"   
  
His voice was raspy and Bulma knew that he was in pain. His body was terribly battered. A brief moment of emotion passed through her. It was minimal, but it was enough for her to sense Vegeta's pain. It hit her directly in the heart. She stood up and ran farther down the hall to her room. The door was slightly ajar but still open. She pushed the door open and looked around. A large hole had been blasted through her wall and most of her things were on the floor. The bed was sunken and tilted from a missing post.   
  
"Vegeta?" Bulma asked moving into the room. She looked in the bathroom, which looked just bad, if not worse, than her room. She ran back into the main bedroom and went to the balcony, which was also a wreck. When she was certain that Vegeta was not there she ran back into the room determined to search the whole house. Suddenly she saw something. It was a crumpled heap next to the bed of sheets and blankets. She looked at it with no more than a glance and spotted a foot emerging from the pile. She kneeled by the pile and ripped the covers away to show a bloody and bruised figure. Only his jet-black, spiky hair made him recognizable and even that was sticky with blood. She turned him over on his back and gasped putting a hand over her mouth in horror.   
  
Vegeta had a large wound in the center of his chest that was now oozing blood. The beige carpet was soaked with his blood and she knew that he must have lost almost all of it. Remorse washed over her as she stared at the lifeless body until she saw the tiniest motion of breathing. She reached down and felt a pulse. She felt emotions pour back into her as well as Vegeta's pain. Her head spun as the waves of pain hit her hard.   
  
She fell backwards dizzily onto the floor. 'No, Bulma! Snap out of it!' She told herself angrily, 'Close off your emotions again!'  
  
She did. Bulma stood shakily and disoriented. She stared at her husband in shock. How had he survived? She didn't know, but she did know that she would ask him as soon as this was over. She froze, IF this was ever over. She shook off her fear of his death and grabbed his wrist. She pulled him out of the corner between the wall and the bed and stood him upright. She paused taking in a breath before she threw an arm over his shoulders and used her other hand to hold onto his left hand, which was across her shoulders. She dragged him across the room, to the door and down the hall to Goku. She laid him down and ran to Trunks without a word. She dragged the teen back to them and asked, "Goku, do you have enough energy to use the instant transmission?"  
  
"No." he moaned. He passed out and Bulma just stared.   
  
"If only I had some cenzu bean-" she stopped mid-sentence. Bulma bolted down the stairs and began rummaging through her clothes in the plane. After a few moments, she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the cenzu beans from her pocket and smiled. They had survived the first encounter she had shared with Dorei. Bulma frowned and her brow furrowed. Had it really only been a month? 'You don't have time for this now!' she thought.   
  
She turned away from the plane and ran back into her house praying with all her might to Kami that her family was still alive. She reached group of Saiyans and woke her son long enough for him to chew, "Come on, Trunks. You can do it. Chew sweetie."  
  
"Hey, Mom…" he said weakly. She felt the power of his muscles in his arm slowly return as she held her son close. After a moment he sat up and looked around, "Where's that sneaky underhanded criminal?"   
  
"What are you going on about?" Bulma asked in surprise. She put a hand on Trunks's shoulder, "Who?"  
  
"Yamcha! He was with that man, Dorei! He let him in the house!"  
  
"But Yamcha was killed! Murdered!"  
  
"No, it was a set-up I guess. He led that man right into our home and helped him fight! He preyed on our trust in his friendship to attack!"  
  
"But Yamcha's a lot weaker than you are!" Bulma exclaimed trying to take in her son's ramblings. She felt betrayed. Once again pain stole over her. She went to Vegeta and put a cenzu bean in his mouth, "Vegeta, if you can hear me, CHEW! I need you to chew this Vegeta! Live please, Kami let him live! I need you around lot more than I let on…! Breathe!"   
  
A tear slid down Bulma's cheek and landed softly on his eyelid. She closed her eyes and sank into despair, but she could no longer feel his pain. Her eyes opened and she realized that Vegeta was sitting up, examining his now full chest. He still had his bruises and his energy was still low but he was alive. Bulma lunged at him and wrapped her arms so tightly around her husband that for a moment she forgot her trauma from Dorei.  
  
"Vegeta! You're alive!" she sobbed, "Alive! I thought you had left me! I-I thought that I'd never see you again!"  
  
Vegeta looked at Bulma and smiled. She seemed to be okay. Unscratched, alive and embracing him as if he had just given her a surprise birthday party or something. He smoothed her silky hair and closed his eyes. She was alive and well.  
  
Bulma felt Vegeta's hands settle on her back and security stole over her. She pulled away after a moment. She sat on her knees and stared at her husband.  
  
"Bulma?" Vegeta asked quietly, "Bulma, what's wrong?" When she didn't answer Vegeta reached out to her, "Bulma?"  
  
She accepted his touch, "Nothing's wrong. I just have to heal everyone and I'd like to see my parents…. Okay?"  
  
Vegeta stared at her a long moment. She was staring at the floor and only dared to steal a glance at him once. That was all Vegeta needed to see the single tear that was tracing the outline of her nose. He nodded, "Okay, Bulma."  
  
She smiled weakly at him seeing the way his eyes settled on her stomach and felt more tears welling up. She fought them back and closed herself off from any emotion. After she had given a couple cenzu beans to each of the Z warriors, she slid the bag into her pocket once again.  
  
"Come on. We should go to the lookout and see what Dende knows." Goku said helping Gohan to his feet. They began to walk down the hall but Bulma didn't move. She just stood there watching the others walk away. Goku turned back, "Aren't you coming?"  
  
Bulma nodded and attempted a smile. It would seem normal to anyone who didn't know Bulma very well, but the others noticed that the sparkle in her eye was gone and that she seemed completely lifeless. They paused before Goku nodded and herded the others out.  
  
Bulma sank to the floor as soon as they were downstairs and closed her eyes. She had wounded Vegeta. If she had not been so damned public about the goings on in her lab, Ja'kunah would have never found out about the time machine: Vegeta would have never been hurt, nor would have Trunks and the others. Bulma opened her eyes and stared at her hands, surprised that the only emotion she could muster was self-loathing. Vegeta had only been happy that she had been alive and well. She had felt it. But he was wrong, oh so wrong. She wasn't well. She doubted if she would ever be well again.  
  
Bulma sighed as she stood slowly and trudged down the stairs. They would soon be leaving in the time machine but Bulma didn't dread being alone with an entire group of men as she thought she would, she dreaded what might happen to them if they didn't find the child in time. She shuddered at the thought as she stepped into the living room. What if Ja'kunah caught up to them in the time stream? She knew what would happen when Ja'kunah realized that she had sent him to the wrong date. He would be pissed.  
  
The guys were all waiting for her news. And by the look on their faces she was stuck. They didn't have enough time to learn how to drive it as well as her, and she didn't have the patience left to teach them. No matter how she looked at it, Bulma was going. She was going right back to Dorei's greasy clutches…and she was leading her son and her husband right along with her.  
  
******* 


End file.
